There were a lot of things wrong with the Giants in 2013 and any discussion of those flaws has to include the play of quarterback Eli Manning and defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul.
Manning threw 27 interceptions and Pierre-Paul was a shell of his explosive self after offseason back surgery, leaving the Giants without the performance they expected from two of the best players on their roster. The Giants changed a lot of things this offseason, but General Manager Jerry Reese doesn’t think the key players for the team’s chances of breaking a two-year run out of the playoffs have changed.
“There are two guys on our team that have to play really well and it’s Eli Manning and Jason Pierre-Paul,” Reese said, via Don Banks of SI.com. “If those guys play well, I think we’ve got a chance to be really good.”
It’s not an out of left field prediction by any means, but it is probably an accurate one. The Giants offense under Tom Coughlin has been at its best when Manning has been at his best and Pierre-Paul has shown special ability on the defensive line at points in his career. Through this point in the offseason, Pierre-Paul looks closer to fulfilling Reese’s desires as he looked good against the Steelers while Manning failed to complete a pass in the team’s new offense.
If things remain that way, it is hard to see the Giants finding their way back to the postseason so there’s pressure on Manning to get the offense moving back in the right direction after a dreadful 2013 effort.